How to backup WhatsApp chats on Android and iPhone

If you are reading this guide it is because like hundreds of millions of users you are actively using WhatsApp as a main messaging application on your Android smartphones or on your Apple iPhone. Smartphones, whether from Samsung, Huawei or Apple, are not infallible.

Sometimes it may be necessary to restore (in this regard on Android take a look here: How to reset Android ), or, for some strange bugs delete the application of WhatsApp and reinstall it.

Or again, it is not rare nowadays to change your smartphone, having to reinstall from scratch WhatsApp.

That’s why it is necessary to save the chat of WhatsApp, that is to make a backup of WhatsApp chat, including multimedia content that we exchange with our contacts, so you are always ready for any eventuality, or just in view of a change of smartphone or a restore.

The problems can then arise in the most unexpected moments and given the possibility offered by WhatsApp it would always be good to keep active the automatic backup of the chat.

In the next paragraphs, we will then see together the steps necessary to activate the backup of your data, chats and multimedia content, in a few, practical steps.

Obviously, we will go to distinguish the procedures necessary to make the backup on Android and iOS.

What both procedures have in common is that there is no need for external applications or programs: you can do everything directly from WhatsApp and make the procedure completely automated. Let’s see how!

Save Chat WhatsApp on Android

Let’s start from the most widespread platform in the world, or Android. WhatsApp Android has added the ability to save backup files of chat, photos and videos in the cloud.

You can store all of this sensitive data on Google Drive, the Google web storage service. In reality, however, these files will not be accessible directly from your Google account, since in essence WhatsApp is cutting a corner of your Drive space to store its files and keep them safe from anyone.

For obvious reasons, it is good to save your data under a stable Wi-Fi network. Since the backup also involves images and, on request, video, it is a matter of uploading several hundred megabytes of data, which would weigh on your weekly or monthly thresholds.

Save WhatsApp Chat on Android – Just a few messages are enough to enable automatic backup on Google Drive.

Let’s see the list of commands necessary to access it:

From the home of WhatsApp press the menu button (the one with the three vertical dots) that you find at the top right

Press on Settings

Look for the Chat option

Go now to Backup chats

Adjust all the settings that are right for you.

Now that we are in the backup interface, let’s see what options to set up. To begin with under the heading Google Drive Settings choose the Gmail account in which to perform such saves.

Under ” Backup to Google Drive” select whether to make a weekly, daily, monthly backup or only if you touch the green Backup Execute button you can see on this screen. We recommend that you activate at least the weekly one.

As mentioned, the unexpected are always around the corner, and it is good to secure their data. Scrolling down another button appears, Include video, which, as suggested, also allows you to include movies exchanged or recorded directly from WhatsApp to files to save on the cloud.

If you also read the text below the data related to the last backup made, you will also find that every time an automatic data saving is performed or by pressing the appropriate button, a backup is also performed on the internal memory of the device.

It will be useful, for example, to uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp, recovering everything immediately or to save your data on PC or other storage media.

Save Android WhatsApp Chat via email

Do you want to secure some more valuable chats by using other storage methods? Or maybe you want to send them to someone not directly involved in that discussion? On Android you can send chats via email, here’s how.

It’s easier than you think. Go to the chat you want to send via email, press the button at the top right to open the menu (usually with the three dots arranged vertically) and press the More button.

A sub-menu will open containing the item Send chat via email. At this point, you can decide whether to include only the text of the conversation, by pressing on Without media, or if you also attach photos and videos by clicking on Attach media. At this point, you can decide with which e-mail client to manage the sending of the backup.

Save WhatsApp Chat on iPhone

Of course, even on the iPhone, or the Apple smartphone with iOS operating system, you can backup your own chats and their multimedia content. Before proceeding we will give you the usual advice we gave in the guide dedicated to Android.

It is good to make such backups under astable homeWi-Fi network, so you do not consume several hundred megabytes of data from your monthly or weekly thresholds. The backup includes not only text, but also more voluminous photos and videos.

Saving WhatsApp Chat on iPhone – Securing the backup of conversations on iCloud is a matter of a moment.

That said, the steps to follow are quite simple and immediate. Let’s see them listed below:

From the Home of WhatsApp, click on Settings, located at the bottom right of the app’s section bar

Find the Chat option

Here press on Backup chats

Press Back up now, first make sure you have selected the right options

Unlike the Android version, the proprietary cloud service of Apple is the one dedicated to iOS imagines the data related to WhatsApp on iCloud.

Also in this case you can decide whether or not to include the videos, that is the most substantial part of the backup and how often to perform the automatic backup (daily, weekly, monthly or if you press the Back up now button ).

We recommend to do it automatically at least once a week.

Export Chat WhatsApp iPhone

In the iOS version of WhatsApp you will find also integrated a feature useful for exporting chats, including multimedia elements, and to share them not only via email. Here are the steps to follow to use this feature.

Click on the name of the chat at the top

Scroll down until you find Export Chat

Attach media or Without media files allows you to attach photos or videos to the email or not

Choose how to share the chat

Save WhatsApp chat on PC | Mac

To save WhatsApp chats on your PC the best thing is to refer to the previous paragraphs dedicated to the export of WhatsApp chats.

We’ll talk about it in the next two paragraphs dedicated respectively to Android and iOS.

Save Android WhatsApp Chats on PC | Mac

As explained in the appropriate paragraph on saving chat via email in fact, at the moment on Android there is no way to export conversations if not by sending them via email.

So the advice is to export all the chats you care about most and send them to your favorite e-mail address. At this point, from the client from here usually read the mail, open your chats, stored in a file compressed by the extension .zip, and copy your chat where you want, in a special text document or elsewhere.

Save Chat WhatsApp iPhone on PC

The recommendations are the same as in the previous paragraph. You can export chats, including media files such as photos, videos and voice notes, and send them to your inbox.

Once you have sent the backup, consisting of a zip file, you can download it to your desktop or laptop and handle the files as you see fit.

Remember then that WhatsApp on iPhone has an Export function more complete than that of the Android version: in fact you can send the .zip file with the backup to other applications, including Dropbox.

Save chat WhatsApp while phone change

In case of a phone change, can you save your WhatsApp chats and import them into the new device? The answer is yes, but with limitations.

Let’s focus on moving from one Android to another Android, or switching from iPhone to another iPhone. The case of transition from Android to iPhone will be addressed in the next paragraph.

If you are going from an Android device to another Android device, do not worry, re-importing your chats and your data is a matter of a moment, just provide the the account in which you have backed up WhatsApp on Google Drive on your old Android device!

In theory, you can also do it manually, making a manual backup and moving the file from one device to another, but it is a cumbersome procedure that we do not recommend. We strongly recommend that you back up to Google Drive.

Once you have purchased your new Android, just enter your SIM, install WhatsApp, log in with your phone number and follow the instructions that will propose WhatsApp itself.

Yes, because the backup depends on your Google account, the same used for the initial activation of the device. Importing chats is a matter of a moment, since it is a few hundred bytes of data.

To restore photos and other multimedia content it will take a few minutes more, but during the restore you will still be able to use WhatsApp.

WhatsApp will ask you to restore your chats and media files from a backup when you verify your number. Just tap ” Restore ” when you are asked to do so.

If WhatsApp does not detect any backups, it could be due to the fact that:

You are not registered with the same Google Account.

You are not using the same phone number used to create the backup.

The SD card and / or chat history is corrupted.

There is no backup file on the Google Drive account or locally on the phone.

Even in the case of changing iPhone it is an extremely simple procedure. Obviously, the initial step is the same as indicated for Android: back up WhatsApp on your old iPhone.

Once started the new iPhone, install WhatsApp and open, after confirming your phone number, you will see on-screen instructions to proceed with the restoration of the chat using precisely iCloud, the Apple cloud service.

WhatsApp backup from Android to iPhone

Here things get problematic. Currently there is no procedure to move the backup of WhatsApp chats from Android to iPhone and / or vice versa.

Also on the official website of the WhatsApp service there is no official procedure, and in the pages dedicated to Android and iPhone no mention is made of the opposing platforms.

The only solution, however, that will not allow you to have such chats on smartphones, is to export chats by email and save them on your PC. However, take a look at the following paragraph.

How to transfer Whatsapp messages

We have dedicated a wide guide to the topic, you find it linked in the title of this paragraph. Basically this guide takes advantage of what is said in this, using backups to export them to a new device.

Switching from iPhone to Android or vice versa is a bit more complicated. For more details, refer to the aforementioned guide.

Backup WhatsApp Blocked

Why can not you backup your chats? Maybe you started the procedure but got stuck inexorably? Do not worry, it’s not your fault.

To start, check that you are still connected to a stable network, preferably a Wi-Fi. If your smartphone is actually connected to the network but you can not back up, the blame couldsimplybeofWhatsApp! Just try it later, or maybe the day after, and “magically” your backup could proceed smoothly.

I'm a fan of the world of video games for PCs since childhood, from the days of games on Floppy Disk and the last glories of the Commodore, reading magazines such as PC Gamer, Games For My Computer and many others. Even the other platforms intrigue me, but the first love never forgets.

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